Caroline Kangogo died of single gunshot wound to the head — autopsy

Policewoman Caroline Kangogo died of a single gunshot wound to the head, which damaged her brain and skull, chief government pathologist Dr Johansen Oduor has said.

The bullet entered the body through the right chin and exited on the left side of the head. The trajectory went through the spine to the brain.

“When I looked at the gunshot wound entry, it was a contact wound, meaning the gun was on the skin,” Dr Oduor said.

He said a hole caused by the bullet and areas of burning known as muzzle imprint on the skin were visible.

Dr Oduor said further investigations would be done to establish if Kangogo shot herself or it was by someone else.

He spoke on Tuesday after the autopsy at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret.

The body was moved from Iten County Referral Hospital morgue to the MTRH where the autopsy was conducted. It was then returned to the Iten facility ahead of her burial. 

“We have taken swabs from her hand to find out whether there were any gunshot residues, which will be able to tell us that,” Dr Oduor said.

He said his duty was to establish the cause of death but further laboratory investigations would help to establish the manner of death.

The pathologist said from the investigation's report, the incident happened at the scene where the body was found.

Caroline’s father Barnaba Kangogo and other family members were at the hospital for the postmortem.

Caroline shot herself dead in a bathroom at her parent's home as she was being sought for killing two people, including her colleague in Nakuru and a businessman.

There were claims the state in which the body was found pointed to the possibility that she may have been killed by other people.

But Mzee Kangogo, who is a former police officer, insisted his daughter killed herself.

“Although we have no doubts that she killed herself, we have allowed the government to perform the autopsy,” her brother, Mark Kangogo, said. 

Mzee Kangogo had explained that the bathroom in which the body of her daughter was found had been locked from inside and there was no way someone would lock it that way from the outside.

“We found the bathroom locked from inside and there was no way someone would put her inside and lock it from outside. She did it herself,” Mzee Kangogo said.

He explained that he had found a boda boda rider who dropped her near the home on the night before she was found dead.

“Then rider did not know it was my daughter and he says she asked him to drop her just near the home on the previous night,” he said.

He said they did not notice her arrival at night until when they stumbled on the body in the bathroom.

“We wish she was alive to explain to us what exactly happened, including the killing,” he said.

The officer had indicated her wish to be cremated in messages found in her phone but her father said they will bury her.

She avoided arrest for almost two weeks only to be found dead a week ago.

Some experts questioned how she could shoot herself and the gun remain in the hand while her legs were in a relaxed position. There was no blood splashed at the exit of the bullet.

Some experts also questioned the draft confession text messages,with claims the messages may not have been written by her.